Securing trim material



Oct. 13, 1936. B. c, PLACE SECURING TRIM MATERIAL Original Filed June 20, 1930 Z x 4 M 7- Z a. Z

Jwowtoz 3/07 6. P/dae Patented Oct. 13, 1936 1 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,057,588 I SECURING TRIM MATERIAL Bion CfPlace, Detroit, Mich., assignor of onehalf to George E. Gagnier, Detroit, Mich.

Original application June 20, 1930, Serial No. 462,633. Divided and this application October 19, 1931, Serial No. 569,800

5 Claims.

though it should be understood that the invention is capable of being put to many other uses.

It is frequently desirable to attach snap fasteners to the material that is to be secured by them to a supporting structure of any kind. This is to enable the material to which the fasteners are attached to be readily applied to the supporting structure by simply bringing the fasteners into registry with the sockets or apertures, provided in the supporting structure to receive them, and applying pressure to cause the fasteners to snap into holding position.

Fasteners have been proposed that were assembled with respect to the covering material by passing the shanks thereof through openings in the covering material provided to receive them. Such arrangement is sometimes not entirely satisfactory if the holes in the covering material have to be formed very near to the edges thereof in order that the fastener may be located in a position close to the edges of the material, as is frequently desirable.

When the covering material consists of panels, each including a body and a cloth covering for one face, such as are customarily employed to finish the interior of automobile bodies, it is desirable to attach the fasteners to the panel,

after the covering material has been applied.

to the front face thereof. This can be accomplished by forming specially fonned slots in the body of the panel as described in my patent 411,722,944, granted July 30, 1929.

This invention aims to improve upon the construction disclosed in the patent just referred 40 to, by providing a fastener that can be associated with the covering material so that parts of the fasteneiyserve to firmly grip said covering material and pass therethrough at a point substantially out of alignment with the shank of 45 the fastener, to the end that-the perforation of the covering material may be -made relatively small and at a point spaced from the edge of the covering material, although the gripping portion of the fastener may exert its 50 holding function immediately adjacent the edge of. the covering material.

This invention, in its preferred embodiment utilizes a fastener having some of the characteristics of thefastener disclosed in my Patent 55 1,679,266 granted July 31st, 1928. The present er of the present inventio:

invention however constitutes an improvement on that of said patent by disposing the arms that connect the head of the fastener and the shank, so that said arms may cooperate with the under-side of the head to provide jaws be- 5 tween which the covering material may be rippe This invention also presents an improved combination over that disclosed in saidpatent by disposing the shank of the fastener adja- 10 cent the edge of the head thereof, at a point substantially spaced from the point at which the. arms of the fastener are connected to the loop, constituting the head thereof, to the end that the shank is substantially spaced with re- 15 spect to the portions of the fastener that connect said arms and said head, so that the opening in the covering material through which the fastener passes, if an opening is made, may be disposed substantially to one side of the opening 20 in the supporting structure that receives the shank of the fastener when it is in operative position.

In using snap fasteners assembled with respect to the panel as above described, it is frequently 25 desirable to beable to shift the fastener laterally to bring it exactly opposite the socket openings in the supporting structure provided to receive it, Relatively complex multi-part sheet metal constructions have been heretofore proposed, to enable this to be brought about. By the use of the present invention it is only necessary to provide a relatively narrow opening of elongated or equivalent form to enable the fastener to be shifted laterally along the length of said slot in 35 'order to bring it into proper position for assembly with respect to the socket in the supporting structure to which it is to be applied, the fastens pping the portions of the covering material adjacent said 40 elongated slot frictionally, which permits the fastener to be slidably shifted in bringing it into position. Or, the fastener may simply slidably grip the edge, inturned or otherwise, of the covering material thus avoiding perforation of such material.

The primary object of the invention accordingly is, to provide a trim panel assembly including a one-piece wire spring fastener that may be readily assembled with respect to the covering material, without necessitating the perforation of the covering material immediately adjacent the edges thereof, or without nebessitating the formation of slots of irregular form, the

( covering material.

' provide a v piece wire spring. fastener, of the ,snap type,

latter requiring special dies to punch them in the A still further objectof the invention is to trim panel assembly including a one-- ,that may be readily assembled with respect to the covering material by inserting the same in a straight slot from-the rear face of the covering material, if desired, and that is so formed as to frictionally grip the covering material at the portion thereof adjacent the slot through which -the fastener passes.

A still further object of the invention is to provide trim panel assembly including a snap fastener of the one-piece wire type, that may be assembled with respect to covering material soas-to grip the same, and that may, at the sametime be adjusted so as to provide substan-- tial variation in the'pointof its location, without seriously weakening the covering material by forming relatively large openings therein enable this to be brought about.

- Figure 6 isf'a sectio fication of the invention requiring no perfora- A further objectbf the invention is to provide a snap fastener that may be assembled with respect to a panel through a narrow straight elongated slot that may be formed in the cover- I ingmaterial at a point substantially spaced from 'the edge thereof by means of ordinary rule dies,

.30- that may be; inexpensively made ancl'operated at a low labor cost.

This application is a division of my copending application Serial No.'462,633, filed June 20, 1930.

Further objects of the invention will appear as a description thereof proceeds with references to. the accompanying drawing in which--- Figure 1 is a fragmentary front view of covering material appliedto a supporting structure in accordance with thepresent invention.

Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view, taken in the plane indicated by the line ,2-2 in Figure 1 looking in the direction of the arrows.

' Figure 3 is a plan view of a preferred form of throughout the several figures;

, ,The fastener forming an essential part of this invention is preferably constructed from a single piece of spring wire, and, in its final form, comprises a head Ill, means ll arranged to cooperate with the underside of the head of the fastener to grip material, to beheld inplace by said fastener, betweenthe head and said means, and a shank' l2 extending in a plane approximately'iat right angles to theplane of said head and said means. The mid-portion the wire is bent to form the head Ill and the means H while the shank l2 of the fastener is formed by the-ends of the wire.

Preferably, the head Ill is formed bybending the central portion into the form of an open loop is of any suitable form, although preferably circular as illustrated in thedrawing in. order to avoid unnecessary sharp bends. The portion of the -wire immediately adjacent-the ends of the loopis are bent' downwardly approximately at right angles to the plane of the loop as indicated at M and 15 (Figure 5) providing relativew short legs it. Such legs are aosmsa the fastener as made of a length corresponding approximately to the thicknessofthematerialthatistobe attached by the fastener, or, preferably, a little I less than the thickness of said material, so that a firm frictional grip may be provided between the head l3 and the arms II that are formed by bending the portions of the wire adjacent; the lower ends of the legs l6 at the points indicated at I8;

The legs l6 and the arms il constitute the means II that cooperate with the underside of the head In to grip the material to be held by said fastener between the head and the means in the manner more fully, hereinafter pointed out. The arms I! may be. carried substantially parallel to the plane of said head, a distance slightly less than the diameter of the head so that the shank I! of the fastener is spaced substantially laterally of the legs I 6 which pass through the openings in the material in a man-. ner hereinafter described,

The shank of the fastener includes the two ends of the wire formed by bending the wire substantially at'right angles to the legs H, as

indicated at I9. Said ends are bowed betweenthe tips thereof and the bends I9, as illustrated at 20, the arrangement providing divergently disposed holding elements 2i and 22, and convergently disposed guiding elements Hand 24. The tips of the wire may be disposed in overlapped relation as shown so that the fastener may readily be entered in an opening or socket designed to receive it.

' The fastener just described is particularly designed for securing the trim panels of automobile or similar bodies in position with respect to the structure of the body. when so used supporting the. fastener 'is applied in the manner illustratedin Figures 1 and 2 of the drawing, in which the numeral 25 designates a fragment of the body of a trim panel. Such bodies are usually constructed of fibrous material such as cardboard or paper.reinforced with steel, or of any other relativelystiif material. Such panels are usually attached by applying fasteners theretoadjacent the edges thereof at spaced intervals along said edges, since it is desirable in order that the v panel may be firmly held against the inside of the body-that the panel be seemed as close to the edges thereof as feasible. By using fasteners such as just described, the body need not be perforated close to .the edge of the panel although the holding elements of the fastener may be located close to the edge of the body of the panel. In order to permit ready assembly of the fasteners with respect to the body, said body is provided with relatively narrow elongated slots 26 disposed at intervals along the edgesthereof at' some distance spaced inwardly from the 'extreme edges. Such slots, in view of the fact'that they are spaced substantially inwardly from the edge of the panel and in view of the further fact u that they are of relatively narrow width, donot materially weaken the panel. The fasteners are applied tothe panels by inserting the'closed portion of the loop l3 through the-slot 26 and tilting the fastener slightly-to enable this to be brought about. The loop l3 isthen moved over the top surface of the b While at the same time the arms I] move over the under-surface'bf the panel -sothat the panelis firmly gripp d between the arms lland the loop l3. -As above pointed out, the arms I] are spaced from the heads ill just suflicient sothat the body 25 isfrictionally, but

firmly, gripped between said arms and said head when the fastener has been assembled with respect to the body of the panel in the manner just described.

It will be observed that, since the slot 26 is elongated sufliciently to permit the bowed portions 20 of the shank of the fastener to pass freely therethrough, after the fasteners have been assembled with respect to the body, they are capable of being shifted laterally along the length of the slot so as to vary their position somewhat in order to enablethe shanks of the fastener to be brought exactly opposite the openings or sockets that are intended to receive them. Circular or openings of other form may be used as will be obvious.

The outer face of the body 25 of the trim panel may be covered by a cloth covering, of any desired character. Such covering may be applied to the panel beforethe fasteners are assembled with respect thereto by lapping the edges of the fabric around the edges of the body 25 and by stitching the fabric thereto in a manner well known in the art. The fasteners may be applied to such a covered panel in which event the heads ill will be disposed when the fasteners are in position, between the cloth covering and the outer side of the body 25.

After the fasteners have been assembled with respect to the panel the panel is applied to the inside of the body by causing the shanks 12 of the fasteners to enter pre-formed perforations or sockets in the supporting structure. A fragment of such supporting structure is designated by numeral 21 in Figure '2, and such structure is provided, at intervals corresponding to the spacing of the fasteners in the panels, with perforations 28. The perforations 28 may be disposed close to the edges of the supporting structure as illustrated, that is, in a position substantially spaced laterally of the elongated slots 26 in the body of the panel.

The panel is then applied to the supporting structure by inserting the shanks of the fasteners in the openings 28 and applying pressure along the length of said shanks. This action causes the guiding portions 23 and 24 to wedge the holding portions 2| and 22 toward each other permitting the widest portion of the fastener to pass through the opening 28. After this has been accomplished the holding portions 2| and 22 spread apart, and as the panel is forced against the supporting structure, said holding portions firmly grip the'edges' of the openings or perforations 28, holding the panel in position by a wedging action that tends to draw the panel toward the supporting structure. It will be observed that the wedging action just referred to is effective immediately adjacent the edges of the panels although the fasteners do not pass through the panels at this point. The fastener of this invention accordingly secures the panels with respect to the supporting structure as effectively as if the fasteners had traversed the panels immediately adjacent the edges thereof, although this result is accomplished by this invention without weakening the panels, as would be necessary to bring this about with the ordinary form of fastener.

While the construction just described represents the present preferred manner of utilizing the invention, it will be readily understood that the described invention is capable of being us i in many other relations and that the fastemr forming a part thereof may be applied to the edges of the panels without perforating them by simply entering said edges betweenthe arms I! and the loop l3 so that the fastener is frictionally retained with respect to said edges.

A construction of the latter type in which the fastener is concealed is shown in Fig. 6, in which the covering material 29 is imperforated. The margins of said material are folded inwardly at 30 forming a. nicely-rounded, neat-appearing edge 3| spaced from the inner surface of the material, which may be a cloth covered panel or a section of an externally ornamented or unornamented metallic or fibrous material. The improved snap fasteners are simply applied at intervals along the folded edges by causing said edge to enter between the head ID of the fastener and the means ll thereof that cooperates with the underside of said head to form jaws which frictionally grip said edge, though the fasteners may be slid along the edge to bring them into proper position. The covering material or panel is applied as above described with reference to Figure 2 by simply causing the shank l2 of each fastener to enter an opening or socket 32 in the supporting structure 33.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment is therefore to! be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

What I claim and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is:

1. In combination, a perforated supporting member, a trim panel of relatively stiif material for said supporting member, said trim panel being provided with a relatively smallopening disposed in offset relation to the perforation in said supporting member; and a spring fastener for attaching said covering material to said supporting member, comprising a head substantially longer than the width of said opening and bearing on one side of said covering material and means extending through said opening and bearing against the other side of said covering material, said head and means being formed so that said material is frictionally gripped between said head and said means, and elements integrally attached to said means and extending through the perforation in said supporting. member to hold said material resiliently in fixed relation thereto. 2. In combination, a supporting structure a portion of which is to be covered by a trim panel, fastener receiving openings in said supporting structure close to the edges of said por-- tion; a trim panel of relatively stiff material extending to said edges, and snap fasteners having a head in the form of a hook engaged on said panel with the bight of the hook, spaced substantially inwardly of the covering material margins and of said openings, and an expansible and contractible shank presenting holding surfaces engaging the walls of and extending through said fastener receiving openings in the supporting structure.

3. In combination, a perforated supporting member, a trim panel of relatively stifif material provided with a fastener opening disposed in lapped relation on said supporting member, and a spring fastener for attaching said trim panel to said supporting member, comprising a head bearing on one side of saidpanel' to an extent exceeding the width of said opening and means extending through thef opening in said panel said supporting member to .hold said material in fixed relation thereto.

4; In combination, a supporting structure presenting an area for covering with ei, trim panel, fastener receiving openingsjclose to the margins of said area, a trim-panehof relatively stiff material to cover said area, and'snap fasteners having U-shaped heads-,l'ifodkedv' on said panel toward the margins thereof and having shanks to enter said openings, said shanks'being subv hooks of the fasteners.

stantially offset latialiiof thefbights of, the

5. The combination with a metallic supporting structure having a stud-receiving aperture therein of fixed size, a trim panel superposed upon said supporting structure and having a relatively thin cardboard and the like foundation provided with an aperture located at a) greater distance from the edge than the-aperture in the supporting structure, thereby leaving an imperforate portion of the foundation between the edge and the aperture of sumcient strength to prevent breaking and tearing under normal use, and a snap fastener stud member having a yieldable portion entered into the aperture in the supporting structure and also having an attaching portion passing through the aperture in the foundation and bearing against the outer face to press the foundation against the supporting structure and to hold the fastener stud in position relative to the foundation.

BION C. PLACE. 

